local up and coming oregonian skateboarders, skate spots and skateparks

The person I chose to interview for this assignment was a friend of mine named Saffron from Klamath Falls. Saffron is a Graphic Designer for the local Herald and News newspaper, her official title is “Special Sections Coordinator”. These sections include tabs and magazines, some yearly, some monthly, some seasonal. Beyond that she manages the design side of national ads and creates ads for local companies to be used in the daily newspaper.

Saffron spent 3 years at a community college, then 3 years at a 4 year college culminating in 2 AAs in Web Design and Web Mastery and a BA in Graphic Design. She worked hard to get to where shes at today and she will be the first to tell you that it is definitely a competitive occupation. If you want to break into the field, staying on top of latest trends and technologies is key. Obviously web and mobile are huge right now. The more you learn and know, the more competitive you will be in the marketplace. She highly recommends taking basic skills classes at a community college as she found their training to be far more practical than the equivalent classes at her four year college. She also advises taking as many internship opportunities as you can to gain experience while you’re in college. Having a modicum of natural talent doesn’t hurt either!

Saffrons favorite part of the job is the planning process of creating something; the research aspect. Attempting to understand a clients wants vs. needs and how to meld the two if they conflict. Receiving a new project in general brings with it the opportunity for her to immerse herself in a whole new topic and style of design. Her least favorite part of the job is simply the misconception that the computer does the work for you and a simple click of a button is all it takes. Design requires a vast amount of knowledge and skills. Saffron points out that if it were as simple as a click of a button she wouldn’t have spent years developing her craft.

There are several different types of jobs that exist at the Herald and News and in the graphic design industry in general. For example at Saffrons job there are 4 print designers and 1 web designer in the advertising department. In the news department there is a front page designer, several interior layout designers and a special sections designer. There is one person in prepress who dummies the paper and newsroom special sections, send files through the RIP and handles commercial print jobs. The industry in general is extensive. There’s your basic print design which includes design of brochures, magazines, newspapers, packaging, billboards, calendars, posters, programs, play bills, DVD covers, Books, etc. and you also have to realize that your creating a corporate identity- not just the logo but the entire identity of a company including all relating paraphernalia.

There is a lot more that goes into graphic design than just the layout of type and pictures. For example creating a successful sign isn’t just about the way it looks but how well it functions as an informative device. There are specific mathematical calculations that take into account how far away you want the sign to be readable and how fast the viewer is moving when viewing the sign. The legibility of the font chosen and it’s size are all considerations. Typography is another area that Saffron has some expertise, she sometimes literally creates custom fonts, which is by no means a simple task.

One of the biggest challenges facing Saffron is maintaining readership and, in turn, advertisers. Graphic Designers work in what is considered a dying industry. Physical newspapers are a novelty more than a standard these days. The more graphic designers embrace emerging technologies the more likely they to exist in the future.

When I asked Saffron if there were any professional or trade associations I should connect with if I were interested in becoming a graphic designer she was extremely helpful and suggested AIGA which I learned is the gold standard for graphic design and its also a lot cheaper when you are a student so its definitely something to think about.

When the interview was over I had a much better understanding of all the different aspect of Graphic Design and I think its a very admirable career, intriguing career. I also have a more clear understanding of all the difficult aspects and after talking with Saffron I’m honestly not sure if Graphic Design is necessarily the career for me but it was a pleasure getting to speak with a professional in depth about their career.

This was a poem I selected out of ”selected pearls of wisdom and ” buddhism ” by Tehyi Hsieh by the author confuscious said it first and the poem I recited was by J.G.Whittier which I personally like. So I decided to do a little narrating for this assignment which turned out to be pretty fun and gave me a better understanding of how I really sound also something you don’t really notice as much till you here it repeatedly, lesson learned along with how fun audio can be to work with by simply adjusting speed, pitch, tempo, and effects so I for one am excited for future projects to come even with my introduction level knowledge I feel a lot more comfortable to start projects and get the ball moving thanks to intro to media arts.

A great example of Oregon skateboarding and what it’s generating~ These guys are inspirational and are 100% dedicated skateboarders who are extremely talented and highly motivated and in my eyes pushing the limits throughout skateparks coast to coast. While residing in the northwest for the last couple years they have been on all kinds of tours, in all sorts of amazing skateparks around the world- with videos, pictures and comments of what they were thinking and doing while they were there. To check out where they have been or where they might be going next and to stay updated, just log on to their website, Lifeblood Skateboards, which will be posted at the bottom of my page. Overall I think It’s a great company within the realms of Oregon that seems to be striking out and gaining recognition for raising the bar for skateboarding in the northwest region.

” Jacoby’s the man ” I think that’s what the video should be called. Oh and yes this video is older but still when I see this video I’m left to think how long before he’s pulled out of his world into that of the skate industry and Then on his way to being a name of interest and brought in the direction of the new highlighted breed of skateboarding amongst Oregon. All I can say is watch the video and tell me what you think.

I would like to start off by saying that this is my first time using vector graphics and I actually found it to be quite fun and am glad it was an assignment. Knowing what I do now I’m totally convinced that I have a new time killer on my hands and also feel like I might be able to pass a little knowledge to my friends and family.
When I created this image I was really just kind of playing around and exploring all the tools available and honestly didn’t have any outline or thought of what was to come but I think it turned out alright considering. One thing Ive learned after creating my image is definitely that sometimes less is more, I realize that there is a lot to look at which goes back to the lesson of keeping it simple. I have certainly learned a lot of lesson about steps and process.

Well first of all I am going to talk about ” @skatedaily.net ” which is fully loaded of skateboarding news, reviews, events and clips. by seasoned veterans within the sport which I personally find to be very helpful for keeping an over all heads up on what’s new in the skateboarding industry.

Another must within skateboarding these days ” Dreamland skateparks ” that just so happens to bring one of mine and thousands of others favorite kinds of news which is when a new dreamland skatepark is finished and where. Including pics, clips and reviews this source is the gold you’ll need to know this one.

For my third piece of advice ” Go skateboarding day ” if you don’t already know it’s on june 21st so get ready because there is always something going on in every city. So by following on twitter, vimeo or facebook you will always have the heads up with all up and coming events through out the states.

My last piece of advice is going to be ” Lifeblood skateboards ” which happen to be a local Oregon based company with local riders who are in my eyes pushing skateboarding into head on progression from skatepark to skatepark oozing influence, motivation and style. So I hope you enjoy these links as much as I do and remember now you can’t get bored or feel out of date within your skateboarding scene so no excuses so ” Go Skateboarding “.

First of all, this is an example of how I’ve spent most of my free-time for the last seventeen years or 6,205 days whatever sounds better. What I’m getting at is that this is my passion, lifestyle and future I’m pursuing and now want to incorporate these things to start my own clothing company in the near future.

I thought this exercise was really good practice, and my goal for the image was to almost create a picture within a picture. What I mean by this is by lightening the whole bottom part of the transition in a way that it becomes almost like I printed it out on on a full piece of paper but only used half. Pretty much like cropping it with light. Next I wanted to blend the dakness within the clouds into my white shirt so I put a gritty overlay on top that matched up alright, added a border and submitted my entry.

One of the most creative and inspiring skateboarders I have seen in years I mean the inspirational thoughts he will create alone are infinite with potential.
Also must not forget this film is directed, edited, and filmed by ” Brett Novak “. Who also like ” killian ” and in my eyes and many others at the top of his field.

Trying to bring a little attention to a channel called Free Art and Technology that I have recently stumbled into myself.
Turned out to be very insightful and also loaded with lot’s of potential for whom ever may visit because if art and technology are free on this channel then how could anyone not find something to leave with.
So pass this news on and remember you always leave with something from ” F . A . T ” Free Art and Technology.